45North Announces Listening Party for Premiere of Audio Play ON THE LINE

45North today announced virtual listening parties for the world première of Dessa's new audio play On the Line, released as part of the company's Written on the Waves series. Attendees will have the opportunity to access the first listen to the new piece, an exclusive Q&A with Dessa and the creative team, and will receive signature cocktail recipes to try out at home. The parties will take place at 7pm BST and 7pm EDT on 25 June, with tickets £6.50 and available now here (early) and here (late).

Jessica McVay today said, "On the Line was developed and produced by artists who have never met in person but have worked very closely to make the piece, so it feels only right that we launch it with a virtual listening party. As a first-time playwright, we wanted to offer audiences time with Dessa to talk about the process, and working in this New Medium, especially during this time."

Dessa also commented, "The intricacies of interpersonal dynamics fascinate me--the relationship between two people can almost be considered a third entity, always in flux, and sensitive to even tiny atmospheric shifts. I've written about these dynamics in songs and in essays, but crafting an audioplay was an entirely different exercise in character development--to deliver an entire world through dialogue alone was both a challenge and a thrill."

Sometimes it's hard to tell what sort of love you're in-and who else might be in it with you. In the course of one late-night phone call, long-time friends Gina and Simon-both clever, quick, and charismatic-talk sex and sacrifice, love and loneliness. And in an effort to clarify the terms of human attachment, they risk crossing lines that are hard to uncross.

Suggested listener provisions:

A beverage

A door frame

A couple band-aids (plasters, for UK listeners).

Good luck.

Jessica Rose McVay directs Emily Carewe (Misty), Dessa (Gina), Ross O'Donnellan (Simon).

The full line-up for Written on the Waves season two is:

• Lifted

Available now

A trilogy of short audio pieces: T4T, written by Tabby Lamb and performed by Lamb and Zachary Hing; Busking It, written and performed by Danusia Samal; and Dawn't Stop Believing written and performed by Eva Scott. Directed by Jessica Rose McVay

• Darling

Released: 10 June 2021

Written by Tabby Lamb, and directed by Jo Tyabji

Starring David Hoyle

• On the Line

Released: 25 June 2021

Written by Dessa, and directed by Jessica Rose McVay

Starring Emily Carewe, Dessa, and Ross O'Donnellan

• Rime of the Second Sister

Released: 8 July 2021

Written by Ava Wong Davies, and directed by Jessica Rose McVay

• Moon Cake

Released: 22 July 2021

Created by Sound Designer Nicola T. Chang, with text by Isobella Leung

• Found

Released: 5 August 2021

Written by Abi Zakarian

Dessa is a rapper, singer, and writer. As a writer, she's been published by The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler, and published a memoir-in-essays, My Own Devices, in addition to two literary collections. Dessa is also the host of Deeply Human, a podcast created by the BBC and American Public Media. As a musician, she has performed at Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, recorded a live album with the GRAMMY-award winning Minnesota Orchestra, a contribution to the #1 album The Hamilton Mixtape, and top-200 entries on the Billboard charts.

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